Sep 9, 2007

Four Racers,who barely know each other,decide at a XXX team meeting to ride together in the annual four man team time trial in Utica,Il

They practice a couple of times,getting used to working together,they enjoy an espresso and conversation up at a Highland Park coffee shop waiting for fellow triple X'rs on consecutive saturdays and finally there are adjustments made to their machines making them more aerodynamic....

Trial day...Alarm goes off..after restless sleep of visualizing every scenario of the ttt.I make a pot of coffee,eat breakfast and recheck my gear and bike for the hundredth timeand head out the door to wait for my ride...It's 6:15am....Brian is exactly on time,I load my bike on the roof of his car...

We make our way to corn....Utica,IlI call Jacques to see if he and Chris are on their way.....AffirmativeWe pass cars full of guys with expensive bikes on their roofs...I wave...they wave

We pull up to ....what looks like a fancy bike show in a rural parking lot...Brian and I look around slack jawed and shaking our heads in awe atthe herd of $7000.00 bikes...I sheepishly pull my crit bike with no aero adaptations off of Brians car..

Its Time..We line up..10 seconds,5,4,3,2,1we're off...with the best intentions,high on competitive juices and fighting our way thru the prairie winds

As a team and as individuals this is ourfirst team trial....We make a few mistakes,I make the lions share of them...Feeling strong,I'm much too eager early,I'm sure I cost us a riderand nearly myself as I found out the last 10 miles at max heart rate,staringat Jacques and Brian's rear wheels,yelling gap 3 or 4 times,praying for the mercy of the finish line...Somehow thru the insane pain in my body,I'm able to internally laugh at the insults Jacques is screaming at me,pushing me to give every single ounce of effortI have left....which I do...nothing is left on the course,and I mean...nothing...not a drop

Getting to know these 3 guys I normally would just greet with a smile at races or XXX team rides was amazing...I discovered these are people of integrity,humor and warmth...these are my my friendsWithin that hour and a half...we became a unit,like a seal team operation.Four people suffering,enduring and succeeding for the same cause...